By Texas Jewel <texas_jewel@hotmail.com>
Rated PG
Submitted May 1999
Summary: Some difficulties arise early in Lois' pregnancy.
***
Lois Kent rolled out of bed on a Saturday morning and ran to the bathroom and threw up just like she had started every other day that week. She noticed that Clark wasn't in bed. She put her robe on and headed downstairs. She saw him watching TV on the couch.
"Hi, honey," she said flopping down on the couch.
"I heard you in the bathroom," he said putting his hand to her forehead. "You don't feel warm. Do you feel OK?"
"Clark, you said you heard me in the bathroom. Would you feel OK?" she questioned him.
"Maybe you should go to the doctor again," he said.
"I went yesterday," Lois said. "And I think I know what's wrong with me, and at this point, I hate it."
"Why, what do you think it is?" Clark asked her.
"Clark, I think that I may be—pregnant," Lois said.
"Now, Lois, I know how much you want to have a baby, but Dr. Klein said that it was impossible for us to have children together," Clark told her.
"I know. But Clark, all the symptoms are there," Lois said. "I'm throwing up every morning, which is morning sickness; and I love the combination of french fries and hot chocolate mixed together which is outrageous food cravings!"
"And you just snapped at me which is a mood swing," Clark teased her.
"I'm sorry," Lois said.
"Lois, just don't get your hopes up," Clark said. Two hours later, the phone rang. "Hello?" Clark answered. "OK—OK—sure. Honey, it's for you."
"OK," Lois said as Clark handed her the phone. "Hello? No—really—ohmigod—thank you!" She hung up the phone. "Clark, what did I tell you? We're going to have a baby!"
"No!" Clark said. "Lois, I love you so much. This is great!"
"Clark, we're going to be parents!" Lois said. An odd look came on her face. "And I'm going to be sick." Lois made another mad dash for the bathroom leaving Clark laughing. When she came out of the bathroom, she gave Clark a stern look. "Clark, don't laugh until you're pregnant and sick every minute."
"I'm sorry," Clark said.
***
Three months later, Lois and Clark were holding hands in the obstetrician's office.
"Clark, we're going to find out the sex of the baby today and make sure that he/she's healthy," Lois said.
"Lois, the baby is fine," Clark said. They were called back to see Dr. Morgan.
"Lois, how have you been?" the doctor asked.
"Good," Lois said. "I'm barely showing any signs of pregnancy and my ankles aren't swollen and my food cravings are down to a minimum, so it's pretty good."
"What about your mood swings?" Dr. Morgan asked, rubbing petroleum jelly on her stomach to see the baby on the sonogram moniter.
"They've been down to a minimum, too," Lois said.
"Would your husband agree?" Dr. Morgan asked.
"She really has been handling them very well," Clark said.
"Thank you, Clark," Lois told him. The doctor listened to the heartbeat.
"Well, there are two strong heartbeats," Dr. Morgan said. "Baby's and Mama's. She put a camera thing on Lois' stomach and the baby showed up. "Everything looks good. Would you like to know the baby's sex?"
"Yes, please," Lois said excitedly.
"Congratulations, Lois and Clark, in six months you will be the proud parents of a happy, healthy, little baby girl," the doctor informed them.
"A little girl, Clark!" Lois said, looking up lovingly at her husband.
"I know," Clark said, bending down to give her a kiss. They finished up the examination and went home. Lois and Clark sat down together on the couch.
"You know, Clark, my life has been one big roller coaster," Lois said, holding Clark's hand and looking into his beautiful big, brown eyes.
"What do you mean, Lois?" Clark asked her.
"Well, when I was little and I saw my parents' relationship, I was convinced that I would be one of the women that only worked and I didn't ever want to get married or have children. But when I met you, I knew that I did want to get married, and I wanted to marry you. And then, when we were told that we couldn't have children, I wanted children more than anything. Now that we're married, and I'm pregnant, life is perfect."
"Lois, I couldn't agree with you more," Clark said as they went into a deep, passionate kiss.
"Hold that thought," Lois said jumping up. "I have to use the bathroom." She made a mad dash for the bathroom and when she came back, she found Clark patiently waiting on the couch.
"Are you always going to have to use the bathroom when we get caught up in a romantic moment?" he asked jokingly.
"Well, I'm sorry, but the baby sits on my bladder, so right now it's an extra few ounces on my bladder but in a few months, there will be an extra 5 pounds on my bladder. And the human bladder can only hold 12 ounces," Lois said. "Now lets finish what we started." She sat on Clark's lap and wrapped her arms around Clark's neck.
"I love you," Clark said as their lips met.
"I love you too," Lois said.
***
Three months later, Lois had entered her sixth month of pregnancy and according to their doctor, Lois and Clark's little girl was still developing normally and looking healthy. Lois had gotten a lot bigger than she had ever been which meant it was tough sitting down and standing for long periods of time, and knowing that she hadn't gotten to her full weight depressed her some days. Seeing how much Clark loved her and was bonding with their baby cheered her right up, though.
Lois and Clark were sitting on the couch watching a scary movie that was on TV. Clark had his arm around Lois. They were watching "The Neighbor" which was about a person that killed all of his neighbors but did it in scary ways, which was either giving someone a scary phone call or just popping up.
In the middle of the movie, when someone was about to open the closet door right where the killer was, Lois clung to Clark's shirt and snuggled close to him. When the person came face to face with the killer, Lois hid her face in Clark's shirt and screamed.
"Is it over?" she asked, her voice muffled from Clark's shirt.
"Yes, honey," Clark said. Suddenly, he felt movement from Lois' stomach. "Was that the baby?"
"Yeah," Lois said. Clark put his hand to her stomach.
"That feels so cool!" Clark exclaimed. He got that far-away look in his eyes.
"Go save someone," Lois said.
"Are you sure you're not scared of our neighbors?" Clark asked, spinning into Superman.
"Ha, ha," Lois said sarcastically. Superman flew out of the window and Lois changed the channel on the TV. "I didn't know I married a comedian," she told herself. Still, she checked all of the closets just to be on the safe side.
Two hours later, Lois had heard from Clark very quickly. He had enough time to phone her and tell her that there had been a volcanic explosion and he was the only one who could clean it up and now he was working on a mudslide in China which could take a while. Lois sat down on the couch and became a little panicked when she felt a hard pain.
"Whoa," she said, rubbing her stomach. "Baby, please don't come out yet, you need to stay in there at least three more months."
Still, the pains kept coming and after about twenty minutes of hard pains coming every six and a half minutes, she called Jimmy.
"Hello?" Jimmy's voice answered.
"Jimmy, it's Lois," she said. "I need you to please come get me and take me to the hospital. I've felt three hard contractions that come ever six and a half minutes apart. That's not supposed to happen. Anyways, Clark's out and I can't get hold of him, and I'm in way to much pain to drive myself."
"Yeah, Lois, I'm on my way," Jimmy said. "Should I call you an ambulance?"
"No, just please hurry," Lois begged. They hung up and Lois wrote Clark a short note explaining what was happening. It read:
Clark,
I was feeling some really hard pains that came every six and a half minutes. Jimmy's taking me to the hospital. Please come to Metropolis General as soon as you get this message. We need you.
I love you, Lois
About ten minutes later, Jimmy knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Lois yelled breathing through her contraction. Jimmy ran in. "Jimmy, thank you so much!"
"Anything to help," Jimmy said. "What should I do? Do you need help to the car?" Lois nodded her head and scrunched up her face as the contraction hardened. Jimmy gingerly helped her up and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and heavily leaned on him. Jimmy wrapped an arm tightly around her waist. He helped her into the elevator where she leaned on the wall breathing as the contraction ended. Jimmy helped Lois out to the car and sped her to the hospital.
***
One hour later, Superman flew into the window. "Lois?" he called out. He saw the note on the table. "Oh my god." With that, he flew out of the window and to the hospital. He walked in as Clark and saw Jimmy in the waiting room outside of the maternity ward. "Jimmy!"
"CK!" Jimmy said.
"How is she?" Clark asked.
"I don't know, the doctors wouldn't tell me anything because I'm not family," Jimmy said.
"I'm going to go check on her," Clark said. "Thank you so much for being such a good friend and driving her to the hospital."
"It's what friends are for," Jimmy said. Clark ran and got Lois' room number from the nurse and poked his head in her door.
"Clark," Lois said. He saw her bottom lip start to quiver and he ran to her side as she burst into tears.
"Shhh, it's OK," Clark soothed, wrapping his arms around her. "Tell me what the doctor said.
Lois wiped her eyes. "It turns out what I was feeling wasn't contractions or premature labor like I had thought it was. I was feeling our little girl—she was— dying. The umbilical cord had been caught around her throat and I could feel her dying."
"No," Clark said.
"But they saved her," Lois said. "They cut open into the sac and unwrapped the cord from around her neck. But there's a small chance that she won't survive all the medicine that they shot in my bloodstream to get to her. We're just going to have to hope and pray that our little girl will be OK."
"And she will," Clark told her.
"They said if I had come in even a minute later, that we would have lost her for good," Lois said, tearing up again.
"But she's alive," Clark said. Dr. Morgan walked in.
"Hi, Lois, how are you?" she asked.
"I'd be a lot better if my daughter weren't in danger of dying," Lois said with a hint of rudeness in her voice. Clark gave her a look to calm her down.
"I know," Dr. Morgan sympathized. "And I understand. We're keeping a very close eye on your daughter's heartbeat and how she looks. If she has a nice heartbeat, we'll release you the day after tomorrow. You're going to have to take it easy for a few days when you go back to work. You're at a high risk for a miscarriage if you don't take it easy."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Lois said. "I'll do anything to save my daughter."
"Well, we're keeping an eye on your daughter. I have to be honest with you. There's a 4 out of 5 chance that the baby will die, but there is that one," Dr. Morgan said. "I wish I had better news for you. I'll be in to check on you later." The doctor left and Lois started tearing up again.
"Honey, I want you to try and get some rest," Clark said placing a hand on her stomach. "It will be better for the baby if you're not stressed."
"I am tired," Lois said. "Will you stay here until I go to sleep?"
"I'm not leaving your side for a second," Clark said. He stroked Lois' face and she closed her eyes. Within about ten minutes, Lois was out. Clark quietly snuck out of Lois' room. Jimmy was still out in the waiting room and apparently had called Perry.
"How is she?" Perry asked.
"Is the baby OK?" Jimmy asked.
"Lois is doing pretty well for what's going on," Clark said. "It turns out that what she thought were contractions and premature labor was really the baby—our daughter—dying."
"Oh, great shades of Elvis," Perry said.
"The umbilical cord was tangled around the baby's throat, and they surgically cut into the sac that she's in and unwrapped the cord from her neck," Clark explained. "They're keeping Lois and the baby under extremely careful observation for the next couple of days. If everything looks good, they're going to let Lois out of the hospital but she'll have to take some time off of work and some half days for a while. I'll probably stay home with her if that's OK with you, Perry."
"Oh, sure," Perry said. "Lois has always dragged herself into work no matter what, and you two are my star reporters. I think that you two deserve some time off of work."
"Thanks," Clark said. All three men then went down to the hospital gift store to buy Lois some flowers about twenty minutes later. As they were looking at all of the flowers, they heard an announcement.
"Code blue, room 203, code blue! All doctors nearby, please report!"
"That's Lois!" Clark said, running to room 203 with Perry and Jimmy right behind him. There were tons of doctors in there. Clark let out all of his emotions just then and let the tears fall. He had tried to be tough for everyone but couldn't do it anymore.
"She's back!" one of the doctors exclaimed. Clark waited for Dr. Morgan to come out.
"Dr. Morgan, what happened, what's going on?" Clark asked.
"Clark, Lois' heart stopped beating but we got her back. She's in a coma right now. As sick as your baby is, I don't know that Lois will have the strength to pull herself out of this," Dr. Morgan said sadly.
"No!" Clark exclaimed. "Lois is a fighter. She'll come out of this."
"I'm so sorry, Clark," the doctor said. "You can go visit her for a little while."
Clark went inside Lois' room and held her hand. "Hi, Lois," Clark started softly. "It's me, Clark. Listen, honey, I know that you're a fighter, and you've got to pull through for me. Our baby will have a much better chance of survival if you will pull through and you're OK. I love you so much Lois. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you and I can't even imagine trying to live my life without you in it. You're the reason that I get up in the morning. You make life worth living. Your beautiful smile lights up an entire room. I love you so much." He sat there holding Lois' hand, talking to her for about another 20 minutes before a nurse came in.
"I'm sorry but you'll have to go," she said. "This patient needs her rest."
Clark stepped out of Lois' room and sat down in a chair. He drifted into a deep sleep and woke up about 2 hours later. After thinking for a minute of where he was, and what was happening, Clark ran and caught a nurse. "Can you please tell me how Lois Kent is now?" he asked.
The nurse looked at her clipboard. "Lois Kent," she said. "Oh yeah, well her baby's doing a lot better and the condition of it has been moved up from critical to severe. Mrs. Kent's condition is severe just because she hasn't come out of her coma and if she dies, the baby does too."
"No," Clark moaned. "Can I see her?"
"Are you related to her?" the nurse asked him.
"I'm her husband," Clark told her.
"You can go in for about 20 minutes," the nurse told him. Clark went in to Lois' room and took her hand.
"Hi, honey, it's Clark again," Clark whispered. "Lois, you have to get better if not for me, but for the baby. The nurse just told me if you don't get better, the baby will die. Look, I don't want to put any pressure on you, if you feel that it's just too painful for you to keep holding on, then let yourself go. I'll understand. But if you feel like you can come out of it, please do. I love you so much. You and the baby mean the world to me. And if you come out of this, I will not leave your side. I'll be at home tonight, honey, because the hospital doesn't like people to stay the night. If you need anything, call my name and I'll be there. I love you." Clark leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Then he went home and went to bed.
Around 2:00 that morning, the phone rang. Clark came out of his sleep praying that it wasn't bad news about Lois and the baby.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hi sexy," Lois' voice answered.
"Lois, is that you?!" Clark asked.
"Who else refers to you as sexy?" Lois asked.
"What happened? When did you wake up?" Clark asked.
"Well, I guess it wasn't my time to go yet," Lois said. "And I woke up about two hours ago. I told them that I wanted to give my husband a call, but they made me wait until they ran a bunch of tests on me and the baby. Our little girl is just fine. In fact, I'm being released the day after tomorrow."
"Lois, you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice," Clark told him. "I really was starting to think that you were going to die."
"Me? I'm only 29," Lois said. "I still have plenty of time."
"I really hope so," Clark told her.
"I think that the nurse wants me to get some rest and hang up now," Lois told him.
"OK," Clark said. "I'll be in to see you tomorrow around 9:00," Clark said.
"Clark," Lois said. "I love you."
"I love you too, Lois," Clark said. He went back to sleep and felt great when he woke up the next morning. Clark got ready and went down to the hospital. He picked up a beautiful bouquet of pink, purple, white, and yellow flowers which were Lois' favorite combination. Then he went up to her room and quietly knocked on the door and poked his head in.
Lois looked up and saw her husband at the door and motioned for him to come in. Clark walked in and gave her the flowers.
"Clark, they're beautiful!" Lois said. "I love them—and you, of course—so much."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," Clark said. He set the flowers in a vase that was next to Lois' bed and filled it with water. "How do you feel?"
"I feel so much better," Lois said. "I just want to get up and get out of here."
"No," Clark said. "You and the baby are doing a lot better but we don't want to risk the fact that I could still lose you."
"Clark, I promise you, I'm not going anywhere," Lois said. She reached out her arms and Clark fell into them and they kissed. The doctor walked in. She cleared her throat.
"Am I interrupting anything?" Dr. Morgan asked.
"No, I was just showing Lois how happy I am that she and the baby are awake," Clark said.
"I can see that," the doctor laughed. "Well, I have good news. Lois and the baby's condition have moved up again to stable now. You two are healing so quickly that if you look this good tomorrow, we're going to let you go."
"Thank you," Lois said.
"Under one condition," Dr. Morgan said. "No working at home or in the office for one week. No doing anything unless it's necessary."
"Hey, if it will help the baby, I won't do anything," Lois said.
"And I wouldn't dream of letting Lois do anything that would endanger her or the baby," Clark said.
***
Lois walked into their house two days later with Clark following close behind. She lied on the couch before Clark could say anything.
"So, what story are you working on?" Lois asked.
"I'm not," Clark said. "Perry and I knew that if I was working on a story, that you would try to somehow get involved with it, too. And we don't want you working."
"Clark, you know that I would never do anything to jeopardize the health of our baby," Lois said.
"I know," Clark said kissing her head. "But sometimes you just don't know when to stop. Am I not right in saying that?"
Lois smiled. "OK, maybe a little bit."
"But I promise, next week you can go back to work if you feel good," Clark said. "But you know that you can only work half days for that week."
"I know," Lois said. "I was listening when the doctor gave me all of my demands of what to do and what not to do."
"Lois, I'm so glad that you and the baby are OK," Clark said. He sat on the couch beside her and she took his hand.
"Clark, I could never leave you," Lois said. "I love you."
"I love you too," Clark said. He leaned into kiss Lois. After a few seconds, Lois pulled away.
"You know the doctor said that for an entire week, we can't have any sexual activities," Lois said. "I have to let the baby have time to heal."
"I was just kissing you," Clark said.
"Please, don't start something that we can't finish," Lois said.
***
Seven days later, Lois was walking downstairs. She had just woken up. "I'm bored. I want to go back to work."
"Lois, you're going back to work tomorrow," Clark told her. "Just live through the rest of today."
"But all I've been doing is resting, and that's not me," she complained.
"But it's what you do when you have someone living inside of you whose health is more important than your boredom," Clark told her.
"I know," Lois said. "I have a doctor's appointment in a couple of minutes, though. That will take up a couple of hours of my boredom."
"Come on, are you ready to go?" Clark asked.
"Yes," Lois said. They arrived at the doctor's office and after about fifteen minutes, the doctor was able to see them.
The doctor examined Lois. "Well, Lois, congratulations. You went against the odds, and your baby is fine. But I still want you to only work half days but only for 3 days. Then you can go to work full force, but make sure to still take it easy. You could be at a very high-risk for a miscarriage if you don't."
"Don't worry, Dr. Morgan," Lois said. "Between you and Clark, I know that I won't be able to work long. And believe me, I would never dream of doing anything to put my baby in danger."
***
Three months later, Lois had reached her ninth month of pregnancy. She had been able to go back to work full time without any more complications. Today was a rainy, cold, windy day that makes a person want to stay in bed all day under the covers. The alarm went off and Lois rolled over to turn it off. Clark sat up in bed.
"Clark, I can't sit up," Lois said. She saw Clark trying to hide the fact that he was laughing at her. "It's not my fault, I'm 9 months pregnant and my stomach looks like a balloon. It doesn't feel that great on my back either."
Clark helped her sit up. "I'm sorry," he said. "I wasn't trying to laugh at you."
"Yeah, sure," Lois said. "I hate being pregnant."
"Honey, you only have two more days and then the baby's supposed to come," Clark said.
"Everybody knows that the baby never comes on the due date," Lois told him. "And I'll be two weeks overdue before they induce labor. So I could be pregnant for two weeks and two days before the baby actually comes."
"Lois," Clark said. "I love you."
"I love you too, Clark," Lois said. "How did you know that you can make me forget about all my problems when I just hear those three little words coming from your mouth?"
"I don't know," Clark said. Lois got in the shower and then they both got ready for work.
When they got to work, the wind had picked up and a hurricane watch was put out.
"Everyone around the Metropolis area, Hurricane Mark is on it's way in. Meteorologists are predicting it will be here within a day or two, so watch out," a news flash read as it went across the screen.
"I hate hurricanes," Lois said. "They always scare me."
"Aww, is the little woman scared of a little hurricane?" Clark asked, talking to her like a baby. She playfully slapped him.
By the end of the day, the winds had gotten stronger and even more so when Lois and Clark got home. Clark knew that the hurricane would probably show up any minute, so he went around and quickly boarded up the windows.
"Clark, promise me that if there's an emergency, but we're in the middle of this hurricane, you won't leave me?" Lois begged.
"Lois, I promise, if there's an emergency somewhere, I think that you need me more. I won't leave you for a second," Clark promised.
"Thanks," Lois told him.
One hour later, Hurricane Mark had arrived and was in full force. The eye of the hurricane was right on Metropolis. Trees were almost coming up from the ground and Lois and Clark sat on the couch, watching TV. Until windows crashed in, they decided not to rush into the bathroom. Lois was holding Clark's hand as they watched TV and leaning against Clark's shoulder.
All of the sudden, Lois felt an incredible pain. "Oh no," she mumbled.
"What?" Clark asked looking at her.
"Oh, I was just thinking that I might have forgotten to turn off the stove," she lied walking over to the stove. "Nope, it's off. I'm going to go use the restroom really quick." She walked to the restroom, shut and locked the door. She sat down on a stool in there, rubbing her stomach. "There's a hurricane outside, don't come out," Lois begged. Still, the pains kept coming. A few minutes later after not feeling any pains, Lois walked out of the bathroom.
"Everything come out OK in there?" Clark teased her.
"Ha ha, farm boy," she teased. Lois didn't want Clark to know that she might be in labor.
"I'm kind of hungry," Clark announced. "You want some ice cream or something?"
"No, I'm not very hungry," Lois said.
"Are you OK?" Clark asked. "You eat all the time, especially since you got pregnant."
"I know, I'm just not hungry," Lois said.
"Are you sick?" Clark asked.
"No, Clark, I'm just not hungry!" Lois snapped. Clark held his hands up.
"OK," he said, getting up to spoon himself out some ice cream. Lois realized that she snapped at him when he didn't deserve it. She got up and walked over to him while he was getting out his ice cream. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I'm sorry, Clark," she said. "I don't know why I just snapped like that. Will you forgive me?"
"Yes, I forgive you," Clark said, turning around and bending down to kiss her.
As Lois was walking away, she felt a pain that was unbearable. She grabbed the cabinet and groaned in pain. "Ohhh."
Clark was at Lois' side in a second. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, man, I just felt this incredible pain," Lois said. Clark led her over to the couch.
"Did it hurt?" he asked.
"No, Clark, it was the best feeling I've ever experienced," Lois said sarcastically. Clark held up his hands.
"OK," he said.
"I'm sorry," Lois said. "I'm just scared. This isn't the first pain that I've had today. I'm afraid I might be in labor, and there's a hurricane outside and—"
Clark held a finger to Lois' lips. "Lois, honey, I don't want you to worry. So what if there's a hurricane outside? I'm here for you and I won't leave your side for a second. I promise."
"Thanks," Lois said. She held Clark's hand. "I love you," she told him.
"I love you too," Clark told her as he kissed her. He kept one hand on her stomach and she had her hand on top of his.
"Ohhhh!" Lois moaned, pulling away. "Clark, this is definitely the real thing. That was a real contraction and my water really just now broke."
"Hey, you're going to be OK," Clark said. "I'm going to carry you upstairs, so that you can deliver the baby in our bed and be comfortable."
"Yeah, comfortable," Lois said. "That's impossible to be while you're in labor. But you wouldn't know anything about pain, would you?"
"I'm sorry, Lois," Clark said smiling sympathetically.
"I would really like to be carried up there," Lois said. "That just hurt really bad."
"Your wish is my command," Clark said, picking Lois up and taking her upstairs. He put her in the chair. "I'm going to change the bedding, OK?"
"Ohh, just hurry," Lois said as her contraction started. The wind outside howled. Clark sped around and changed the bedding, then helped Lois into bed.
"Are you OK?" he asked as she crawled into bed.
"Yeah, I think so," she said. "Will you mind helping me into a nightgown?"
"No problem," Clark said. He helped her change into a nightgown and she got under the covers and leaned back against the pillows. Clark sat up there with her. "Lois, I promise that you are going to be OK."
"I know I am," Lois said. "This hurricane's making me nervous, though."
"Well, don't let it," Clark said. "I'm Superman, and you know that absolutely nothing will happen to you with me here. If the hurricane gets dangerous, I'll fly you somewhere safe."
Lois smiled as a contraction started. "I'm glad that you're here with me," she said.
"Breathe through it, Lois," Clark encouraged. "You're OK."
"Easy for you to say," Lois panted. "You're not lying in bed trying to squeeze a baby out of your body." Clark smiled and checked her dilation.
"Whoa, Lois, you're already at a 5. How long have you been in labor?" he asked.
"I don't know," Lois moaned. "An hour or two?"
"Well, good news. Your labor might be painful, but it won't be long, it looks like," Clark announced.
"That is good news," Lois said, flopping against the pillows.
Four hours later, Lois was still in labor and outside the hurricane was picking up more wind and becoming more dangerous.
Clark's superhearing picked up on the radio from next door. "For all of you in the Metropolis area, you better head for cover. Hurricane Mark is getting more dangerous!"
"What is it?" Lois panted through her contraction.
"The radio—it said to take cover if you're in Metropolis," Clark said.
"Oh no," Lois said. Just then, the window in their bedroom shattered into their house. Clark sped to Lois' side as soon as it happened and shielded her head with his body.
"Are you OK?" Clark asked.
"Oh my gosh!" Lois exclaimed, shaking.
"We've got to get into the bathroom!" Clark said. He gingerly picked her up and carried her into the bathroom, speeding back to get plenty of blankets and pillows.
"This is ridiculous," Lois said. "First, I have to deliver in our bed, and now in our bathroom."
"I'm sorry, Lois," Clark said. "Maybe the hurricane will go away before you deliver."
"I'm OK for now," Lois said. Luckily, she and Clark had a huge bathroom. Clark was trying to make the floor comfortable for Lois while she sat in a chair. He sped back into their bedroom and came back with their mattress from the bed. "Clark, that's so sweet."
"That's what I'm here for," Clark said, flashing Lois one of those irresistibly gorgeous smiles. He helped her onto the mattress where she leaned against the bathtub, cushioned with pillows. "Are you comfortable?"
"Yeah, this actually feels better than the bed," Lois said. "Ohhhh!" she moaned.
Clark checked her dilation again. "You're at a 9 and a half, Lois. It's almost over."
"That sounds—ohhhh!—too good to be true," Lois panted. "Oh, I think it's over. That one was short but painful."
Clark sat by Lois and held her in his strong arms. "Lois, you're doing so good and I'm proud of you."
"Clark, what if something goes wrong?" Lois asked. "We don't have all the medical equipment that we need."
"Lois, you're with me, and I guarantee you that I will not let anything happen to you or the baby. I love you, both of you. And I'm going to do everything in my power to make this as safe for you and the baby as possible."
"Thank you," she said. "Will you rub my back? I'm really sore."
"Sure," Clark said, squatting behind her. He massaged her back for several minutes.
"Oh! Clark! They're starting again!" Lois screamed. Clark ran and checked her dilation. Then he looked up at her and smiled.
"Lois, you're ready to push," he announced. "On the count of three, OK? 1, 2, 3, push!"
Lois pushed with all her might. "Ohhhh!"
"One more time, Lois!" Clark cheered.
"GET IT OUUUUUTT!" she screamed.
"Come on, Lois, one more big push!" Clark told her. "You can do it!"
"Ohhhhh, Clark, this hurts!" she yelled.
"Come on, do it again!" Clark said.
"I'm TRYING!" Lois yelled through the pain of pushing.
An hour later, Lois was still pushing to try and get the baby out.
"Come on, Lois, I can see the baby!" Clark cheered on. Clark was actually getting worried. The baby still wasn't out, and Lois was tiring very quickly.
Lois got in the pushing position and then flopped back against the pillows, crying. Clark rushed to her side and held her hand. "Clark, I-I can't do it," she said. "I'm too tired. The baby won't come out and I'm so tired."
"Lois, you have to do this," he said. "I know you can. You're Lois Lane and you are the strongest woman I know. All you have to do is give me one more big push and the baby should come out. Please, Lois, don't give up. I love you so much, Lois." Clark bent down and started kissing Lois.
"OK, Clark, go get ready to catch the baby," Lois instructed Clark, smiling. "I think I just got a tiny surge of energy to give one more push."
"That's the Lois I married," Clark said going back to get ready to get the baby. "OK, one, two, three, push Lois!"
Lois pushed with all the energy she had left, and the baby did come out.
"Lois, you did it!" Clark said, cleaning out the baby's lungs. "We now have a beautiful daughter!"
"Is she OK?" Lois asked as Clark handed her to Lois.
"She's perfect—just like her mother."
About an hour later, the weather outside had finally calmed down enough and Clark drove Lois and the baby to the hospital to make sure that they were both OK.
"What are we going to call her?" Clark asked a few hours later after they had gotten the word that their daughter and Lois was OK.
"I don't know," Lois said. "I've always liked the name Summer, actually."
"Summer Kent," Clark said. "I like the sound of that. How about Summer Cassidy Kent?"
"I like it," Lois said. They wrote it down and told the doctor and nurse so that their daughter wouldn't be known as Baby Girl Kent anymore.
"Lois, has anyone told you that you are the sexiest woman that I have ever seen?" Clark asked.
Lois giggled. "No," she answered.
"Well, you are," Clark said. "I can't believe that after 9 months of being pregnant, you still had the strength to go through childbirth. You're so much stronger than me and I'm—" he lowered his voice— "Superman."
"Clark, I almost didn't have the strength to continue, but thanks to you I did," Lois said. "I love you so much."
"I love you too. If you had it to do all over again, would you?" Clark asked.
"In a heartbeat," Lois answered. "Because with you by my side, I know that we can overcome anything as long as we're together and there's nothing to be scared of."
"We have a way of going against the odds," Clark said.
"I love you Clark."
"I love you too, Lois," Clark said as he kissed Lois.
THE END